


showing care

by cottoncandyacey



Category: Half-Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware
Genre: Autistic Benrey, Autistic Tommy Coolatta, Benrey + Gordon live together, Fluff, Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Benrey, Gordon is there for like 2 seconds, Rain, Thunderstorms, tommy is scared of thunderstorms, uhhh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:54:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24228418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cottoncandyacey/pseuds/cottoncandyacey
Summary: Benrey wants to show Tommy how grateful they are for supporting them and being a good friend. Their opportunity arises during a thunderstorm.(Alternate title: benrey is autistic, nb, and a good fucking friend to tommy)
Relationships: Benrey & Tommy Coolatta
Comments: 8
Kudos: 130





	showing care

**Author's Note:**

> i whipped this up in like 5 minutes idk   
> uhhhhhhhhhhh yeah ok enjoy :)  
> also they might be a lil bit ooc bc this is like my 2nd time writing for this fandom idk

Nobody seemed to really understand Benrey like Tommy did. Tommy was patient with them, let them ramble about nonsensical things, gave them space when needed, never raised their voice or was aggressive towards them. Benrey almost considered Tommy a friend. 

Clearly, Tommy thought of Benrey as a friend, but Benrey just wasn’t sure if they felt the same way, their emotions were always so jumbled and hard to identify. 

Shit had gone down a long time ago. Bonds broken. Relationships demolished. But, still, Tommy managed to forgive and fix his friendship with Benrey, and now they were close. 

It was raining outside, that day. 

Though it wasn’t storming, it was very much raining, and Benrey couldn’t find it in themselves to mind all that much as they listened to it patter outside, quietly playing on their handheld console, while Tommy read off to his right on the armchair. 

Gordon wasn’t in the house, out doing something with his kid for school, leaving Benrey alone. Tommy had come over, and now they were here. Benrey playing Mario Kart, Tommy reading peacefully. 

Really, Benrey wanted to comunícate their gratitude for Tommy being a calm, patient person that was always there for them, but wasn’t sure how, until there was a clash of thunder and Tommy shot off the chair, book falling near Benrey’s feet. Benrey looked over, and saw the scientist trembling, frozen in fear. 

Blinking for a moment or two, Benrey paused their game (they weren’t playing against other people anyway) and stood up, leaving to their room for a moment, ignoring the confused call of their name from Tommy. 

When they returned, they had a weighted blanket in tow. They picked up Tommy’s book, settled onto the couch, and gestured for Tommy to join them. 

Though a bit confused, Tommy stumbled over, settling on the couch. When he opened his mouth to speak, Benrey tossed the blanket around Tommy, too, and watched as the tension melted out of Tommy, the scientist clearly soothed by the weight. 

For a short period of time, they just stared at each other, only managing to hold eye contact for brief seconds. Then there was a flash of lightning, making Tommy flinch, which was shortly followed by a clap of thunder, which got Tommy to reflexively grab onto Benrey with a small shout. 

Benrey didn’t bat an eye, grabbing their handheld console and shutting it down, not minding the lost race, and gathered Tommy closer tentatively, allowing the scientist to find refuge in their arms. 

Even if the peace was broken, Benrey still felt at ease. Any time with Tommy was a good time, in their mind. Plus, Tommy was starting to settle, curled into Benrey and holding tightly onto them, clearly seeking comfort in the others arms - and finding it waiting for him. 

Absently, Benrey started petting Tommy’s hair, finding themselves fascinated by how soft it was. Tommy started to settle down again, and Benrey held him close, even when he tensed up again from new thunderclaps. They could wait out the storm together. 

Gordon would arrive home after the storm had passed with Joshua in tow, only to find Tommy’s shoes by the door, and Benrey and Tommy cuddled up together on the couch, both somehow fast asleep, under a weighted blanket. 

**Author's Note:**

> my writing tumblr is “running-mazes” if u,, mayb,,, wanna gimme som prompts....


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